"Today on our trip up the Natchez Trace Parkway traveling from Natchez, Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee we are in northwest Alabama climbing out of the bottom land of Bear Creek up to the exhibit called FREEDOM HILLS OVERLOOK.

"There's a steep paved walkway there that leads about a quarter of a mile up from the parking area to an overlook. There is a bench where visitors can sit and look to the east over the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. This overlook is 800 feet above sea level, about the same elevation as the highest point in all of the state of Mississippi, which is a dozen or so miles west at Woodall Mountain. This overlook is the highest point along the parkway in the state of Alabama.

"We climbed up out of the Bear Creek bottom land to reach this peak; as we continue north we'll be entering the valley that contains the Tennessee River, which is about 10 miles farther up the Trace.

"Join us next time when we will visit Buzzard Roost Spring. For Natchez Trace a road through the wilderness, I'm Frank Thomas."

For more about Natchez Trace: A Road Through the Wilderness, visit eddieandfrank.com